My name is Nicholas Clark. I live in Layton, Utah. I ski, ride bikes, run, work (way to much) & spend as much time w/ my family as possible. I am a dork for almost anything that is new. If it is something to do w/ bikes, skis, running or technology I am into it.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

My New Bike

I should of put this together a lot sooner. But once I got my hands on my new custom Kelson steel frame road bike I couldn't stop riding it long enough to put this together.

Last spring I was riding this.

2010 Fuji SST 1.0 Fast, Stiff and Aero.... As well as amazing hard to sit on for more than 75 miles.

Last spring I also decided to follow the masses and sign up for LOTOJA. A 206 mile one day epic race/ride from Logan UT to Jackon WY.

Putting together the fact that I had a bike that was built to sprint 75 miles or less and a 206 mile ride to make, something had to change.

First was the fit. Yes I liked the feel of a low front end and being stretch out to make the bike feel faster. I knew that was the first thing that was going to have to go. Not to mention I am an terrible fit for most stock bikes. I am 5'11" with a 30" inseam (yep all torso). With no trust fund available I knew a custom carbon frame was not going to happen. Next idea was a custom ti bike. Yes the fit would be far better than my carbon sprint machine. But I was not sure I wanted to feel ever 206 miles of a stiff ti frame. Then came along this.

I live in Utah and there are several builders in the area that build beautiful custom bikes. But an old coworker of mine had a close friend in Aston Idaho who had build him a bike in the past. So I decide to start the project with a few questions. First, How much for a custom steel road bike frame? Second, How light do you think you can build it? And third, How fast can you make it happen?

Brian Williams owner and builder of Kelson Bikes gave all the right answers. Price was as good as it get for a custom steel bike frame, $1250 fitted, painted and ready to build. Weight, he was confident that with the right tubing he could do it around 1500 grams (which he did). Time Frame, once the fitting was done it would take about 30 days to get my new whip rolling.

After the down payment was made and a small detour on a family trip to get fit. My new bike was on its way...

Here is the basic measurements that Brian sent me after my fitting (way different from what I thought I needed).

Brian was also nice enough to send me these photos of my bike while it was being built.

The day it was delivered and built I took it up Little Mountain. I could of not asked for more.

So to say the least, yes I am very happy with my decision to switch from uber pro carbon frame road bike to a very small independent custom steel frame road bike. You can also bet that I am very excited to see the new 11 speed Di2 come out. Because the best part of having a bike like this is, I can send it right back to a very skilled frame builder to have it repainted, cable stops removed and internal electronic cables routed.